Chaos at Heathrow Airport as a baggage system malfunction causes pile-up

A baggage system malfunction at London’s Heathrow Airport has been blamed for a huge pile-up of luggage at Terminal 2, Friday.

Some passengers complained of two-hour waits at baggage reclaim, while others were left without luggage at all and had to fly without their bags.

Travellers affected by the fault at the UK's biggest airport took to Twitter to express their woes. 

One complained of having to wait several hours for suitcases that never showed up, while another tweeted that there were "two-hour delays", adding "welcome back to Britain."

A spokesperson at Heathrow apologised for the disruption, saying the malfunction was fixed on Friday.

They said airport staff were working around the clock to reunite passengers with their belongings "as soon as possible". 

"We're sorry there's been disruption to passenger journeys," they said Friday. 

This is the latest in a series of travel disruptions at UK airports, which have been facing the busy summer season with heavy staff shortages, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled.

The industry has been accused of failing to anticipate demand after two years of disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some travel experts have pinned the blame on Brexit, saying it has led to a lack of EU workers in the UK, although this claim has been criticised by Boris Johnson's ministers.